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| April
'15 |
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Sun
Sets Over Carlton +
The Wizards of Oz
Spectrum's
credited with Blue Movies Make Me Cry
on the When the Sun Sets Over Carlton
set, sounding so much better than it did
on the Warts album with the benefit
of remastering and with an intro I'd forgotten.
The Wizards of Oz is an interpretation
of mostly Oz originals by psychedelic whiz
kids, Amorphous Androgynous and includes
The Sons of the Vegetal Mother's Love
is the Law.
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| Oct.
'13 - April '15 |
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The
Long Run + Hard to Get Hits (comp's)
Two double
compilation CDs from the
opposite ends of the compilation Universe.
Anyway, the important thing for you to know
is that there are a couple of tracks from
Bill and me onThe Long Run, the
B version of I'll Be Gone and a
song that
I thought I'd lost for all time,
Recycle Your Love,
which we performed with the beautiful Enza
Pantano back in 1994, and the original version
of IBG on the Sony compilation
- which ain't bad given the international
company it's keeping. |
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| Oct.
'13 (Oh,
good grief!) |
 |
Max
Merritt & The Meteors - Been Away Too
Long
Recorded live in glorious mono in 1969,
this gig finds Max and the band in aggressively
fine form. The set begins with a couple
of pushy Max originals, Been Away Too
Long and I'm So Happy and
the energy doesn't falter from then on.
Stand out tracks are Dizzy Gillespie's instrumental
Kush, with a signature drum solo
from Stewie featuring his seamless single-handed
snare rolls, taken out by Dave Russell's
careering bass line under a rampant ensemble,
and an Otis Redding medley that thankfully
includes Max's unsurpassed version of Try
a Little Tenderness. If you're familiar
with the more amiable latter versions..
read
more |
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| Sept.
'11 - (I've
lost track!) |
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The
Pardoners - Indulgences (See
video)
This feature has been allowed
to languish due to total lack of interest
on my behalf, but I was jolted out of my apathy
upon receiving my reviewers' copy of The Pardoners
latest from Glyn 'Hoover' Mason - and then
actually putting on to listen. My concentration
was heightened with Spectrum concurrently
tossing out another EP and I'm sure Sam will
be delighted to hear that I'm deeply depressed
at the quality of intention and execution
on his and Glyn's 'baby'. But don't take my
word for it - go to The
Pardoners' site and buy yourself a copy
- you'll be delighted too.. |
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| Oct.
'06 - Sept. '11 (Oops..) |
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The
Story of..
Sound Vault Records has compiled these tracks
from albums released by acts on its roster,
which happens to comprise largely of Melbourne
musicians, so it's a useful indicator of
the musical diversity in this town that's
usually ignored by radio. All the songs
are narrative in approach (hence the title),
so if you're in the mood for a story, this
is the CD for you. Spectrum's track is I
Know There Was Another Man There, (from
No Thinking), which was bound to
sound kinda naïve wherever it was -
and does here - but it does have that rootsy
country break in it which fits with the
predominantly country-ish tone of the album.
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| Aug.
'06 - Oct. '06 |
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Vivid
-
Head
065
I heard a track from this
album a couple of weeks ago on Michael Glover's
Border
Crossings show on PBS as one of
a number of Indian influenced tracks. When
he back-announced it he opined it was as
successful a blend of Western jazz and Indian
music as you could hear. The surprise is
that although the CD emanates from New York,
its prime mover is a Melbourne born musician
Barney McAll (brother of John McAll who
plays with Ross Wilson every now and then).
It's occurred to me many times that Indian
music and jazz should fuse fairly seamlessly,
but it's very rarely pulled off. This is
not just another virtuoso showcase - it's
a moody ensemble masterpiece. |
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| May
'06 - July '06 |
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For
Pete's Sake
The For Pete's Sake CD is
immediately distinguished by having the worst
cover art I've seen for a long time, but in
one sense it indicates to the casual buyer
at least that here is a party record,
full of classic Oz tracks that happen to have
been produced by Peter Dawkins over a long
and very distinguished (and ongoing) career.
John Farnham, Dragon, Air Supply, Billy Thorpe,
Aussie Crawl, Pseudo Echo, Mi Sex, Slim Dusty,
Russell Morris and Ross Ryan are all here.
Sadly Ariel is unrepresented, but Tim Gaze
and I exacted a heavy price by playing at
the CD's launch for a full thirty minutes
to a chatty crowd who couldn't give a toss
. Glenn A. Baker's notes are extensive. |
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| Jan.
'06 - Apr. '06 |
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Daddy
Cool
Of course, this is not a CD, but
a DVD, and a double DVD to boot, with a
whole three hours of viewing. I watched
their Tsunami concert appearance first and,
like the incredulous but delighted Myer
Music Bowl audience on the day, fell in
love with DC all over again. Ron Brown and
Ed Nimmervoll in particular deserve a lot
of credit for rounding up everybody and
getting them to speak about the phenomenon
that was Daddy Cool - with the passage of
time we tend to forget how meteoric was
their rise, and the unprecedented heights
to which they flew. Aztec International
have spared nothing with the packaging,
which looks plush while maintaining the
cartoonish image that Ian McAusland devised
for the band. Buy it. |
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| Oct.
'05 - Dec. '05 |
 |
A
Little R&R
A Little R&R
- Red
and Rupert is a CD
I apparently played some harp on - hence
I received my complimentary copy in the
mail yesterday. I do vaguely remember the
session too, but I never got to meet either
of the protagonists responsible. So, in
the absence of anything we've produced,
this becomes my CD of the month. If you
suffer from delicate sensibilities, this
is not the album for you, but if you're
looking for some relief from the terminally
serious - i.e. a whole heap of
outrageous and juvenile fun from men who
are old enough to know better, then this
comes highly recommended. Ross Ryan has
done a remarkable job of putting it on CD
without catching something nasty. |
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| June
'05 - Sept. '05 |
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Hey
Gringo 3
+ Christchurch The Music
Hey Gringo's new album Three was
delivered to me by Hey Gringo front man Daryl
Roberts in person today - so hot it's got
no cover yet. Daryl's hoping that the art
work and printing is going to be ready in
time for the launch on the 22nd. This is the
second Gringo album I've been involved with,
and one has to marvel at the speed with which
it all comes together, due in no small measure
to the unflagging energy of Daryl himself
and the expertise of engineer cum
producer Nicky Bomba. As well as Spectrum
performing Daryl's song You Know What
I Mean, quite a few of my guitar licks
have made it alongside Kevin Borich's,
and Ross Wilson's contributed a really
cool song. |
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I'm
popping over to Christchurch, the city of
my birth, next week. EMI's launching the prosaically
named CD, Christchurch The Music,
with a track on it from my first band, Chants
R&B. The track was the B
side of the first single we released, and
was really a lot closer to what the band was
all about than the A side. It's a mystery
why Christchurch in particular produced so
many rock and pop musicians, because it was
reputed to be the most anally retentive town
in the British Commonwealth, let alone New
Zealand. Maybe a little repression is good
for the rebellious soul. Anyway, this is as
comprehensive collection of the music that
has been produced by Christchurch's sons and
daughters and so is naturally highly recommended.
buy from website |
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| Dec.
'04 - May '05 |
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Get
a Haircut
I got this in the mail a few days
ago from a NZ buddy, John Baker. John's
responsible for the choice of songs on this
essentially historical compilation, so I
guess a Chants' tune was inevitable, seeing
he was responsible for getting the Chants
back in the public eye. Aussie readers of
my vintage will recognise a few of the musicians
like Ray Columbus, Max Merritt and Johnny
Devlin, but many of the others will be a
mystery. The liner notes are written by
the artists themselves, and as there are
31 tracks, the booklet is fat and the print
tiny. You could get onto the nzmusic.com
website and order a copy for Xmas for those
hard-to-please Kiwi friends..
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| Sept.
'04 - Nov. '04 |
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Blues
Train
I've mentioned that Bill and I popped along
to the world famous Rainbow pub a couple
of weeks ago for the launch of this particular
CD. We didn't hang round long enough to
pick up our complimentary copies, so imagine
my delight when a parcel arrived today with
three Blues Train CDs. It celebrates the
Bellarine Peninsula Railway's Blues Train,
(check the website),
which runs over the summer months and has
featured performances by all the artists
on this compilation.
The team that put the CD together is from
NMIT's Music Industry Adv. Dip. course,
and one can only hope they persevere, because
they've done it right! |
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| April
'04 - Aug. '04 |
|
Seasons
of Change + Thredbo Blues
Two live CDs with vastly differing Spectrum
performances are featured this month. The
long-threatened Series One - Seasons
of Change CD (and DVD) have finally
emerged. Check out the Forever Young
website
or phone/fax (03) 57871959 for more info.
review
The Thredbo Blues Festival compilation
CD (with Bill's guitar on the cover) is
also out. Check the Thredbo
website for purchase details. |
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| Sept.
'03 - Mar. '04 |
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Fatherhood
+ Queenscliff Alive
The Fatherhood CD
has been released and you can read about
it in September's Stop Press (see the Archives
link on the home page) and get it from the
Fatherhood
website. The Queenscliff Alive
CD (see the Issue #3 home page)
is available from ABC shops everywhere and
features a host of Aussie stars from Christmases
past. Ross Wilson reckons that 2nd Coming
is the best track on the album. About
time we released a studio version.. |
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